SiP (System in Package)

Definition SiP

A System-in-a-Package or System in Package (SiP) is a number of integrated circuits enclosed in a single package or module. The SiP performs all or most of the functions of an electronic system such as a mobile phone, PC, digital music player, etc. The chips may be stacked vertically or placed horizontally side by side inside the package. They are internally connected by fine wires that are buried in the package, or using solder bumps to join them together, so-called flip-chip technology.

A SiP can contain several silicon components (dies) and passive components all mounted on the same substrate, for example a specialized processor can be combined at chip level with DRAM, flash memory and resistors/capacitors. This means that a complete functional unit can be built in a chip package, so that few external components need to be added to make it work. This is particularly valuable in space constrained environments like MP3 players and mobile phones as it reduces the complexity of the PCB and overall design.
SiP may also be a stacked or flexed SiP, where multiple PCBs will be bundled into one big cluster. In this case the SiP will have vertical interconnects between theindividual PCBs.